Question
Hello,
I have 3 kinds of flowers that i have questions about.

1)I was wondering why my lantanas are coming back very slowly. My moms lantanas which she has not touched in years are about 3 ft tall now and blooming. There are some wild lantanas down the road from my house that are large and blooming as well. My lantanas are  only showing a few leaves at the base. One of my lantanas didnt come back last year. I live in Mississippi. I cut them back a few weeks ago.Do you have any idea why they are growing back so slowly and why the others i mentioned are already big and blooming>?

2) I stake my gladiolus every year but have trouble finding stakes at walmart that are sturdy and tall enough..My glads are very tall and fall over as soon as they blloom...on some of them-its only the bloom part that falls over and on others the whole plant falls over.I understand that the ones where the entire plant falls over is probably because the are planted too shallow. Its high 80's and low 90's right now but will soon sky rocket in a few weeks.Is it ok to plant them deeper at this time?? How do i keep them from falling over??

3)My zinnias were so massive (tall and wide) last year. I couldnt find any stakes that were sturdy enough to hold them up. They were up against my wooden fence so i got creative and thread some twine through the slats and tied some of them against the fence which was a task because they were very heavy.What would you suggest i do or use to keep them upright?

Thanks so much! Jamie

Answer
Hi Jamie,
Thanx for your question.

1.  When you cut your lantanas back a few weeks ago, this is going to cause them to take their time (somewhat) coming back.  I know it is now pretty hot down there and they should be growing like gangbusters here pretty quickly.  Cutting a plant back like you did always results in the plant having to back up and regroup first defending itself from the possibility of disease since you opened it up (by cutting) so that disease would have an entry point into the plant's interior.  So, the plant concentrates on creating a defense against disease.  Once it has control over that, it will concentrate on healing and then once healed, will begin new growth.  As you can see, this will take some time.
2.  I wouldn't dig up the glads you've already planted.  Just chalk it up to experience.  In the future, plant them 6 inches deep.  You can use a weave method like is used on tomatoes to help keep your glads erect.
http://www.foogod.com/~torquill/barefoot/weave.html
3.  Us the Florida weave method as show in #2.  Also, you can get the green, plastic or fiberglas rods that are sold at Home Deport and Lowe's and use those as stakes and they are pretty sturdy and won't break.

http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=1005...

The links are only ideas and not an endorsement on my part of any company unless I indicate otherwise.

I hope this helps.
Tom